Are we just a body with a personality? From my understanding, we are much more than that. Each one of us has a higher aspect. This higher aspect has been typically called the Higher Self. As you ascend, you come to acknowledge your Oversoul or Overself, the realization of what already is. It is the inalienable possession of all conscious beings and not of a mere few.
Who and what is the Higher Self? Our Higher Self is the part of you that is unencumbered by ego and the divisions it can stoke between you and your fellow humans.
From my experience, the Higher Self is the intelligence and wisdom aspect of
our own self. It is a calm, loving, and spiritual guide that brings our positive characteristics to the surface and requires us to address our lower vibrational side.
Your Higher Self helps you transform the things that are getting you stuck in life into avenues of freedom and liberation. You’ll be able to more fully connect with other human beings and learn in the process. When you come to others with your Higher Self, their Higher Self will emerge.
When we live in alignment with the inner wisdom of our Higher Self, we become our best possible version. Our Higher Self knows our purpose in life and encompasses our potential to live a fulfilling and joyous life through personal growth and self-awareness. Ironically, the Higher Self is impersonal and does not have a 'sense of self' in the same way our personality does. Nevertheless, it serves as a guiding aspect for the personality or ego.
Can this elusive Higher Self be contacted? Yes and typically it is done through meditation or some other altered state of consciousness.
The first step to gaining access to your Higher Self, you must know that the answers to your questions are within you. "The answers are within me. We are all a part of the whole. We all have access to wisdom and compassion.”
The simplest way to activate your innate connection to your highest self is by sitting still. No meditation or breathwork is required (although both can act to get you into a more receptive state of being). Simply allow yourself to move past the discomfort that arises from not being continuously distracted and then come home to your Self.
If you're looking for a more active medium, Tarot allows your personality and your higher self to interact with each other. It joins the earthly and the metaphysical using symbolic imagery. The ego reacts to the imagery on the cards first, and then the Higher Self is activated to guide us through the internal meaning of the symbols. It's a dance between the seen and unseen.
The symbols/images that you gravitate toward speak to your inner world. For example, you may see the ten of swords and then randomly think of your ex whom you haven't spoken to for years. Your highest self knows that all of life is transient and that there is a larger picture and force at play. With repetition, pulling tarot cards can help you analyze your immediate reactions and excavate the inner knowing that feeds into them.
Ultimately, there is no split between you and your highest self. You are one and the same, always connected. Recognizing this can lead to many external benefits, but it's the internal journey that rewards us the most. It's not easy but definitely worth it! Be easy with yourself.